What to put on your resume may be confusing if this is your first job search. However, even though you might not yet have any official job experience, your schooling and extracurricular activities have almost probably allowed you to acquire skills and other experiences.
We’ll get deeper into creating a CV for your first job without prior experience in this article. First, find out which of your abilities and experiences are most marketable, then learn how to format your resume to highlight them.
What is a Resume?
A formal resume summarizes your education, professional experience, and transferable skills for potential employers. The very first thing a recruiter or hiring manager looks at when you submit a job application to see whether you’re a suitable fit for the position is your resume.
Steps to write a resume with no work experience
Relevant experience is often required in job postings. But that doesn’t mean you lack experience just because you haven’t done a job in the past. Your experience comes from somewhere other than the workplace. Your CV should highlight your academic accomplishments and any unpaid employment, volunteer work, or extracurricular activities if you’re applying for your first job.
Below are some steps to follow to write your first job resume:
- Pick the right layout.
The majority of resumes emphasize work experience, which is typically listed from most recent to oldest. If you don’t have any work experience to write on your resume, choose a format that places the education part higher on the page.
- Match your experiences to the job listing.
Go through the job description for the position you’re applying for is the first step in creating a strong resume. Making a list of the important terms from the job description can help match your resume to the firm you seek.
Look at the job description and note or highlight all the abilities, skills, and values by paying close attention to those listed as required.
Consider experiences from your own life that match the JD. Consider times when you’ve needed to be especially organized if the job description calls for someone with great organizing skills.
Put your education first. Starting with the education portion of your resume could be beneficial. List your school, the dates you attended, and the following:
- Relevant coursework: If you have taken any classes for the job you are applying for, mention them.
- GPA: Your strong GPA shows your skills and work ethic to succeed in the job.
- Academic achievements: Also include anything else that displays your ability to succeed academically.
- Extracurricular activities: Focus on the extracurricular activities that align with the job listing. Involvement in student council, for example, could display leadership skills, collaboration, and problem-solving.
- Certifications or online courses: If you’ve completed any extra training, boot camps, courses, or certification programs, include them in your resume if relevant.
You can also mention “in progress” in your list if you are still enrolled in any program.
- Highlight volunteer work and extracurricular activities.
Add a section on experience after that. Even though you might not have any formal work experience, you should list any volunteer work, community involvement, internships, or unofficial work experience that is relevant to the position such as blogging, tutoring, or helping out with a family business.
Refer to the list you made in Step 2 as you complete this section. You don’t have to disclose every experience; instead, concentrate on those that relate to terms that are more prominently mentioned in the job description or those that are specified as required rather than preferred.
- List your technical and human skills.
On your resume, list your skills in a list format with bullet points that emphasize your interpersonal and technical abilities. Your resume’s skills section should be compatible with the job description.
- Write your resume objective.
Your skills are summed up in this phrase, which goes at the top of your resume. Once you better understand what is on your resume, it is a good idea to write this last. Describe who you are, what you desire, and what you can offer the employer in no more than one or two phrases.
